Erciyes University, Medicine Faculty, Neurology Department, Kayseri, Turkey.
Erciyes University, Medicine Faculty, Neurology Department, Kayseri, Turkey.
J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2021 Mar;64:126684. doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2020.126684. Epub 2020 Nov 18.
The relationships of Arsenic (As) and selenium (Se) to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) are not clearly known. This case-control observational study aims to investigate the possible relationship of these elements to the diagnosis and pathophysiology of the disease.
This case-control observational study was performed using 40 AD patients in different clinical stages and 40 healthy control subjects, living in a similar environment with low As exposure. The levels of As and Se in nail and hair were measured with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. The results were analysed with regards to clinical condition, age, disease duration, sex, education, living environment, and the relationship of the two elements using Mann Whitney U test and Spearman Rho or Pearson correlation tests as appropriate.
The levels of As and Se were not related to age, disease duration, sex, education, or living environment in the study groups (p > 0.05). The levels of As and Se in hair and nail samples of all patients and patient subgroups were higher than those in the healthy subjects (p < 0.001). A positive correlation was found between the levels of As and Se in both hair and nail samples only in the patient group (p < 0.01).
According to the results, As and Se levels probably increase due to some metabolic or genetic factors affecting both of them together. There may be an increase in the unregulated pool (selenomethionine) and a decrease in the regulated pool of Se (selenosycteine) in AD. Our findings need verification and the subject seems to deserve more elaborate evaluations including genetic analyses and analysis of different chemical forms of these elements.
砷（As）和硒（Se）与阿尔茨海默病（AD）的关系尚不清楚。本病例对照观察性研究旨在探讨这些元素与疾病的诊断和病理生理学的可能关系。
本病例对照观察性研究采用 40 例处于不同临床阶段的 AD 患者和 40 例居住在类似低砷暴露环境中的健康对照者进行。采用电感耦合等离子体质谱法测量指甲和头发中的 As 和 Se 水平。根据临床状况、年龄、疾病持续时间、性别、教育程度、居住环境以及使用 Mann-Whitney U 检验和 Spearman Rho 或 Pearson 相关检验分析元素之间的关系，对结果进行分析。
在研究组中，As 和 Se 水平与年龄、疾病持续时间、性别、教育程度或居住环境无关（p>0.05）。所有患者和患者亚组的头发和指甲样本中的 As 和 Se 水平均高于健康对照组（p<0.001）。仅在患者组中发现头发和指甲样本中 As 和 Se 水平之间呈正相关（p<0.01）。
根据结果，As 和 Se 水平可能由于影响两者的一些代谢或遗传因素而增加。AD 患者可能会增加无调节池（硒代蛋氨酸）并减少调节池（硒代半胱氨酸）中的 Se。我们的研究结果需要进一步验证，该主题似乎值得更详细的评估，包括遗传分析和这些元素不同化学形式的分析。
